Frank Lampard has no concerns about Anthony Gordon’s future at Everton.
The Blues boss revealed he has reminded the young England star he still has more than two and a half years left on his Goodison contract - so the only question is how he fulfils his potential at the club. Gordon was the subject of a £50m offer from Chelsea in the summer, and there were suggestions he was keen to test himself at the higher level of the Champions League.
But Lampard said: “ He is our player, he will remain that for a long time, and I think we showed that with our intention in the summer. He’s got two and a half and a bit more left…so I remind him of that sometimes!
"It’s nice to be in that situation sometimes, because you know in the modern day contracts look different and the shift is different on these individual ones.
“If I’m really honest, my eye is not on that at the minute (talks over a new deal). My main concern as a manager is getting Anthony playing at his best.”
Lampard says as a manager, he believes players should be paid what they are worth, and he has no problems with the player trying to get a deal that reflects his value as one of the brightest young players in English football.
But he won’t allow that to affect Gordon’s development at Everton. The forward comes straight back into squad for the visit to Newcastle on Wednesday, after missing the game at Spurs through suspension.
He said: “I have concerns about the noise around the contract, and I have spoken to him about it. Generally I’m all for players getting what they deserve in their contracts. But that is a separate story.
“Anthony has come through, he had a big breakthrough last season and my only concern is what is the next stage of his development? I want him to be better and so does he. How do we get more out of him? How does he get more out of himself?
“I know he is up for that so it is about actioning it now and we are working on that now.”
There have been suggestions contract talks are not progressing with the player’s representatives, but Lampard has no concerns about that.
“I do have (a good relationship) with him. We laugh and joke a lot, he’s a good lad, a funny lad, and I can be to the point with him as well, he takes that as well so that’s not a concern.
“The conversation about his contract hopefully gets concluded, in a positive way, sooner rather than later. He’s a young player so I shouldn’t just assume that what happened at the back end of the window (with Chelsea) doesn’t affect him, doesn’t affect the feeling around him.
“There are lots of parts to it to be fair, so I can’t assume that. But there are no concerns.”
Lampard also has Mason Holgate back in the squad for the visit to Newcastle, with the manager looking for an improvement after two defeats since the international break. But Yerry Mina has had a set back, and is still not fit to return.
